


What if it had been you?

by sarexvicentina



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, right after season 4, season 4, space is pretty but there are other concerns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 22:18:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12467144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarexvicentina/pseuds/sarexvicentina
Summary: Keith made a rash decision, one that could have cost him his life. To say the others are worried is an understatement.A talk between the former paladin and the one who took his place as the pilot of the red lion.





	What if it had been you?

**Author's Note:**

> For my dear son's birthday, I make his future boyfriend lecture him about how much he matters.

The Castle of Lions was a challenge to navigate around. The maze of corridors, the multiple inexplicable rooms it holds; after roughly a year of adventuring space hasn’t been enough for Keith to uncover all the spaceship has to offer. But today, he is on a mission.

In one of the large corners of the spacecraft lies a room made of a dome of glass and an empty floor; an abandoned ballroom that accompanies the feeling of the main entrance. Keith had found himself coming back to the room since he'd found it, along with another member of their group.

“I knew I’d find you here”, he approaches Lance, who is laying on the middle of the room, staring up at the stars.

“Normal clothes I see… or should I say civilian clothes?”, Lance mentions after looking over his teammate, finishing with a huffed laugh.

Keith fidgets with his sleeves, while laying down next to him. “Needed to feel more at home”.

“Is it though?”

Keith frowns at this simple but cutting statement. Lance looks away from him for a moment, looking back with a nervous but unbudging stare. Keith knows then that this wasn't a just a quip thrown at him like so many others before.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you did leave the team to join the Blade of Marmora… maybe you found something else there…”

The doubt in his voice and actions made Keith feel warm, reminding him how far from the truth that statement is. “Nah”, he finally answers, with a small smile creeping up on him “no ship can replace the Castle of Lions. Even the name of it is cool”

“Ha ha, yeah…”

They lapse into a more comfortable silence, left to look at the stars surrounding them behind the glass.

 

When Keith arrived at the Castle after the ordeal with Lotor, he rushed to the bridge to clarify everything with the Voltron alliance members. From the paladins, only Allura and Shiro were active in the discussion, while Pidge and Hunk worked along with Matt and Coran on the side, trying to defuse the bomb planet they had escaped from. After Kollivan took over his spot as the figure head for the Blades, Hunk quietly pulled Keith away with a rare anger radiating off him.

“Matt told us what happened.” He held up a hand. “And before you start defending your ‘brave act’, just know that there isn't getting around this conversation. Though, we do have to take care of an explosive planet situation, so we’ll just have to postpone this until everyone is gathered and all these other people are gone.”

He surprises him then by giving Keith a hug. “You better know you're appreciated or so help me…” He is pushed away by arms length. Keith notes that Hunk is struggling to keep tears at bay. “Now, if someone is definitely going to kick your ass it’s Lance, he just stormed off when Matt relayed what happened. So would you go find him and bring him back for the official reprehending session?”

It was more of an order than a request, but Keith finds himself nodding and heading towards the rooms to shower.  
After a change of clothes and a few failed locations of Lance’s whereabouts, Keith headed to their occasional spot, where for brief moments, nothing about them was loud; where they could just be normal teenagers being friends.

 

He turns to Lance again, now after months of being gone and almost dying in the process, and finds the courage to speak first.

“So… Hunk told me that Matt-“

“Why did you do it?” Lance desperately interrupts him, turning his head fast towards Keith, not pausing enough to let him react besides a breath. “What did you think you'd achieve? You weren't in a lion; you weren't even in a cruiser! You were in one of those tiny fleet jets that we take out like flies…” He looks up towards the single chandelier floating close to the glass ceiling. “And you still thought ramming through that unbreakable shield was the best way to go? Keith, there must have been another way, even you aren't this irrational!”

“There wasn't another option though! I needed to do something, and doing that felt right… Am I glad Lotor appeared out of nowhere and saved the day? Yes! Even if he probably has ulterior motives for doing it. Would I do it again? If it meant I could save more people than myself, of course! We are fighting a war."

“Still…” Lance props himself on his elbow and points to the other boy. "Why are you being so dismissive about the fact that you almost died? Is it because the Blade of Marmora told you that’s how you're supposed to go out?” He sits up and becomes more solemn, loosely hugging his legs.

“Lance, I-“ Keith starts, moving up to sit beside him, getting interrupted once more.

“I just keep thinking how we had no idea what your plan was, what you were going to do. It didn't even cross our minds that you’d… and then we didn't explode and we were so proud of you… what if it had been you? What if your tiny ship had pierced through the forcefield and stopped Haggar, taking your life with it? Then what?” Lance drops his head and pressed his forehead on his knees. “We call out to you and there’s just static? There’s just an emptiness of where you're supposed to be? How could we go on, man?” Sounding more desperate by the question, hints of crying blend into his muffled speech. After a deep breathe, he continues “Just these last few moths there’s been a… an empty space, a-a spot unfilled, a someone thats not there right next to…-it’s not the same! Keith, it’s not the same without you… now to imagine that permanently… how could we live without you?” he finishes with a loud sob.

Keith is baffled at how much emotion Lance puts into his speech, how much he seems to care. He wasn’t taught how to deal with this, but he might as well try. Putting a hand on the other’s shoulder, he starts “Lance, I’m sorry I wasn’t there but-“

“You’re a part of this team…”, the other says with a clearer voice. “Just because you don’t pilot a lion, you’re still apart of this team… hell, go back to red, I don’t mind cleaning the castle everyday if-“ after a long breath, he looks up at Keith with resolve. “If it means you’ll stay.”

Keith’s heart finally breaks, after so much raw and pure feeling of hopelessness that comes from his friend’s words, all directed at him. His impulsive side tells him to just go for it, forget all ties of responsibility and future worries and just kiss Lance, but his doubt reels him back in. He opens his mouth to speak, but the sight of his oh-so enormous crush looking so crushed and terrified for him, makes him hesitate, and for once think about his next few words carefully.

“Lance, I’m sorry. I left for many reasons, and you being able to stay in the red lion was one of them. I should’ve told you before.” The other looks surprised, but since he isn’t interrupting him again, Keith decides to continue. “And I knew I could participate and do good with the Blade of Marmora, so I saw a way to leave with a purpose. I’m not saying they're perfect, but, in a way, it’s where I’m from. It’s who I’m meant to be.”

After a moment, Lance slowly puts his hand on top of Keith’s. “But you are still a paladin of Voltron. Even if as just an honorary one. I am grateful for thinking of me, but shutting us out… shutting me out did not carry that message through. But that’s fine. I respect your decisions if that is what you truly want. But you have to promise to question the Blade’s way of life, knowledge or death sounds too similar to victory or death… I don’t know. The point is… they believe you are just another expendable soldier. But to us… to… you are so much more than that. A friend, a brother, a rival” his face finally cracks into a familiar smirk. “You have a home to come back to, and you better come back in one piece or so help me… You’ll always have us.” He says with finality and a soft smile, which Keith returns.

Lance turns back to the stars in front of him, apparently done with the lecture towards his teammate. Keith stares at him a bit longer, wondering why after being reprehended, his heart just feels warmer and safe. Before his doubtful side can take over, he rests his head on Lance’s shoulder. Lance tenses at first, but after hearing a small thank you from the other, he flusters with a smile and a duck of his head, settling on leaning his head on top of Keith’s.

A comfortable silence spreads through out the room and stars, a wonderful sight towards the universe to be appreciated by the two. Even so, the paladins find themselves closing their eyes instead, basking in the moment and enjoying the other’s company, their hands loosely intertwined in the floor between them.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! First time uploading here, but I felt inspired by how much Keith needs a hug and decided his birthday was the best time to post. 
> 
> Please comment if you can, so I know if I should start doing more of these. Have a nice day, space rangers ^_^


End file.
